Then
by jjwilson22
Summary: As he is about to marry the girl of his dreams, Rachel, Blaine reminisces about how he fell in love with her. AU Song-fic, based on the song Then by Brad Paisley


Blaine Anderson did not get nervous. Blaine Anderson was calm, cool, collected. Except today, Blaine was completely nervous. Today was the day that he was going to marry the girl of his dreams, Rachel Berry. He was pacing the room, tugging at his tie, when Sam came in.

"Hey, man, you ready," Sam asked, clapping Blaine on the shoulder and giving him an encouaging smile. Sam had been Blaine's best friend since junior high, so it only seemed right that he was going to be his best man today.

"Yeah," Blaine said, laughing nervously. "How's Rachel?"

"She's fine. Quinn has her tied to a chair to make sure she doesn't bolt," Sam laughed and, when he saw the shocked expression, he added, "I'm kidding, man. She loves you. She's not going anywhere. You need to chill out."

Blaine laughed back, running his fingers through his curls, and said, "Yeah, I know, just can't help it."

"Don't worry, man. You are marrying the girl of your dreams today, get excited!" Sam said, clapping Blaine on the shoulder again as Puck and Mike, his other two grooms men, came in.

"It's time, man," Mike said smiling at Blaine. Mike knew exactly what Blaine was going through more than the other two, he and Tina had gotten married a month ago.

"You still have time to back out, man," Puck said as the other three rolled their eyes at him. "Seriously, man, why would you want to tie yourself down. There are thousands of hot ladies that are out there just waiting to be fucked."

"Sorry, Puck, but I'm going through with it," Blaine said, putting a hand on Puck's shoulder.

"Well, it's your life your screwing up," Puck said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well, then, lets go," Sam said, ushering the other three out of the room. As they walked out of the room, Blaine flashed back on how he had fallen in love with Rachel.

* * *

><p>It had been at Blaine's show choir sectionals compatition during his junior year, that he first saw Rachel. Sam, who had transfered to McKinley that year, brought Blaine over to meet Sam's girlfriend, Quinn.<p>

"Nice to finally meet you," Quinn said after Sam had introduced the other two, holding out her hand.

"Same to you. I've heard a lot about you," Blaine said, taking Quinn's hand and kissing it.

"Hey, hey, she's mine, Anderson," Sam joked, punching Blaine playfully on the shoulder. At that moment, a small brunette headed girl came running up to them.

After she caught her breath, the brunette said, "Hey, Mr. Schue said we need to take our seats." When the girl noticed Blaine, she asked, "Who are you?"

"Oh, Rachel, this is Blaine Anderson, the lead vocalist of the Warblers. Blaine, this is Rachel Berry, female lead of New Directions." Sam introduced.

"Hi," the two said at the same time. Blaine didn't know what it was, but he felt an instant attraction to Rachel, and by the way Rachel was staring back at him, Blaine was sure she felt the same.

Sam coughed and said, "Um, we better get to our seats then." Blaine and Rachel tore their eyes away from each other to look at Sam and Quinn, and, by the way two were looking at Blaine and Rachel, they could sense that something magnificent had happened. Rachel nodded and waved a quick goodbye to Blaine. He shook his head, trying to get his brain to work properly again, and watched as Rachel walked into the crowd.

Blaine took his seat in the auditorium with the rest of the Warbalers. When it was New Direction's turn to perform, Blaine watched Rachel Berry in awe. They were singing orininal songs, so Blaine knew they were screwed, but he was too amazed by Rachel to care.

The Warblers' performance went by in a blur and Blaine found himself, standing on stage with New Directions and the other show choir they were competing against, and waiting for the results. Blaine was shocked when they announced that New Directions and the Warblers had tied. Rachel walked over to congratulate him and to invite him to a party they were having afterwards.

Blaine spent that entire night talking to Sam and trying to build up the courage to go up and talk to Rachel.

"Just go talk to her, man," Sam said, clapping him on the shoulder.

Blaine took a deep breath, trying to shake off his nerves, and walked up to Rachel, who was talking with Quinn and another girl from New Directions. When he got up to Rachel, she turned to look at him. "Hey," he said, giving her a small smile.

"Hey," she said back, returning his smile. When Rachel noticed that Blaine's eyes kept flicking back and forth between Quinn and the other girl, Rachel said to them, "Hey, I'll talk to you later." The two girls smiled at each other and walked off giggling.

"So, what did you want," Rachel asked, raising her eyebrows and continuing to smile at him.

"Oh, I, um...I," Blaine trailed off, looking at the floor to avoid Rachel's. When Rachel laughed, Blaine looked up at her.

Rachel reached over to a near by table to grab a napkin and pen that had been left there and wrote something down on the napkin. She handed the napkin to him and said, "Here's my address. You can pick me up at seven Friday night."

Blaine looked up, smiling at her, and asked, "For what?"

"Why our date of course," she said matter of factly. "You are taking me out to Breadsticks."

"Well, okay then. I'll see you then," Blaine said as his smile got wider.

"Yes, you well," Rachel said as she got up on her toes to kiss him on the cheek, and then she walked away leaving Blaine with the biggest smile that he had ever had.

When Friday came around, Blaine pulled up in front of Rachel's house. He took a couple deep breaths to steady himself and slowly walked up to her door. Blaine took another deep breath before knocking on her door. After a few moments, Rachel opened the door. She was wearing a short white dress. She looked beautiful.

"You look...amazing," Blaine said, awe-struck and unable to take his eyes off of her.

"Thank you," Rachel giggled, "you don't look half-bad yourself."

Blaine laughed and said, "Why, thank you. You ready to go?"

"Of course," Rachel said as she stepped out, shouting a quick goodbye to her dads, and closing the door behinde her. Blaine led her to the car and opened her door for her.

They spent the entire night finding out how much they had in common. They were both extreamly talented. They both loved Broadway. They both planed to go to NYU. Rachel was going to study theater and Blaine, while he wanted to pursue a career in music, was going to study business so he could have something to fall back on if the music thing didn't work out. They kept stalling, not wanting to leave yet. When their waiter told them that the restaurant was closing, the two moved out to Blaine's car and continued to talk. When Rachel saw that it was almost eleven, she told Blaine that she needed to get home. Blaine started the car reluctantly and drove Rachel home.

When they pulled up to Rachel's house, Rachel said, "Thanks. Tonight has been one of the best nights of my life."

"No problem," Blaine said, blushing. Rachel leaned over to give Blaine a quick peck on the cheek before reaching for the door, but Blaine stopped her by grabbing her wrist. When Rachel turned around, Blaine kissed her on the lips and smiled against her lips when she kissed him back.

When they broke apart, Rachel smiled and said, "Goodnight, Blaine."

"Goodnight," he said back before leaning in for another kiss. Rachel got out of the car and slowly walked up to her house, glancing back every few steps. Blaine waited to leave until Rachel closed the front door behinde her. _Best. Night. Ever. _Blaine thought as he pulled away from Rachel's house.

The next three weeks flashed by for Blaine. They truly were the best three weeks of his life. He spent every chance he could with Rachel. It was exactly three weeks after Blaine and Rachel's first date that Blaine realized that he was in love with Rachel. What was meant to be a quick kiss goodnight on Rachel's front porch had gone on for forty-five minutes. Luckily, Rachel's dads were out, Blaine didn't know what he would have done if one of them opened the door and caught them.

When they broke apart at one point to catch their breath, Blaine looked Rachel in the eyes and couldn't hold back. "I love you," he blurted out before he could stop himself. His eyes got wide and he looked away from Rachel, trying to find something to say.

Rachel took Blaine's face in her hands, making him look at her, and said, "I love you, too." Blaine smiled and leaned down to kiss her again.

That summer went by in a blur of pure bliss. Blaine and spent the it falling more and more in love with each other. When their senior year rolled around, Blaine surprised Rachel when he showed up at McKinley for the first day of school. He knew it was extreamly cheesy to transfer to his girlfriend's school, but he didn't care if it meant more time with Rachel.

Graduation came and went, which meant another summer of romance for Blaine and Rachel. They talked about the beginning of their new life coming in the fall at NYU, all the adventures they were going to have together.

When college began, they found it was harder then they thought to have all of the adventures they had planed. Their freshmen year weant by in a rush of term papers, new and much harder classes, and work. They had forgotten that they had to keep up with the cost of living.

At the start of their sophmore year, they got an apartment and moved in together. It felt good to be able to fall asleep in each others arms. Living together gave them a chance to continue to fall more in love, which surprised them because they didn't think that was possible.

One day, back in Ohio for Christmas break, found Rachel blind folded in the passanger seat of Blaine's car.

"I still don't understand why I need to be blind folded," Rachel whined, tugging at the cloth blocking her vision.

"I told you, its a surprise," Blaine smiled over at his girlfriend. Soon the car came to a stop. Blaine got out and ran over to Rachel's side to open her door. Blanie escorted Rachel up a set of steps and through a set of doors. Blaine continued to guide Rachel through groups of people. Blaine finally stopped Rachel and removed her blind fold.

"Oh, my God," Rachel said in a hushed voice as she looked around the room. "This is the place where we had our sectional compatition our junior year."

"Yeah, the place we first met," Blaine said. Rachel turned back to Blaine to find him down on one knee, smiling up at her, and a small black box in his hand. Rachel let out a small gasp. "Rachel, you are the girl of my dreams. I cannot imagine life without you. So, well you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" Blaine asked, opening the tiny box to reveal the most beautiful ring that Rachel had ever seen.

It took Rachel a moment to find her voice. "Yes," she said in a small, then in a louder "God, yes." Blaine stood up, taking the ring out of the box and slipping it on her ring finger. Once Blaine got the ring on, Rachel jumped into his arms and kissed him passionately.

* * *

><p>Blaine took his place at the alter and Sam, Mike, and Puck took their spots at Blaine's side. The music began to play not long after they had taken their spots. The doors at the opposite end of the church and out came Tina, then Mercedes, and finally Quinn, the maid of honor. Blaine took a deep breath to prepare himself for what he knew was coming.<p>

When the door opened again, Blaine was greeted by an image that took his breath away. Rachel was in a long white gown, her hair done up in intricate curls, and a father on each arm. Blaine smiled at her and Rachel smiled back, tears of joy already in her eyes. It took what felt like an eternity for Rachel to walk down the aile. When Rachel and her fathers reached the alter, Blaine walked down to meet them. Her fathers kissed her on the cheek and left her with Blaine. He took her hand and led her back to the precher. When Blaine turned to Rachel, he looked her in the eyes. Blaine didn't think he could love her anymore than he did in that moment.

But, he had said that before.


End file.
